EU, Competition & Regulated Markets

OUR TEAM

Led by Joanne Finn, our EU, competition and regulated markets team sits in our corporate and commercial department and is supported by Elaine Davis at senior associate level. 

WHAT WE DO

Our team is experienced in advising clients across a broad range of sectors on all aspects of EU and Irish competition law. We work closely with clients in regulated markets including insurance, renewable energy, telecoms, health, construction and have increasingly found ourselves providing advice on trade matters arising from Brexit.  The team also works with corporate colleagues in Ireland and the UK advising on mergers, joint ventures and asset acquisitions, from inception to completion.   

Given the broad nature of our client base, we frequently work with colleagues in other areas of the firm in Ireland and internationally, fostering close relationships with DAC Beachcroft’s corporate, litigation/dispute resolution and projects/construction teams. Joanne Finn frequently advises on high value, complex litigation strategy, most recently in the financial services, health and technology sectors. 

The team values long-term relationships with clients and advises a range of public sector clients on antitrust and State aid matters including on the complex balancing of market structure, State intervention and dominance. A key skill is advising clients on devising and implementing strategies which take into account wider economic and legal considerations and policy drivers.

Among the team's assets is its ability to deliver high-value strategic advices at board level in increasingly complex regulatory environments by finding practical and commercially-minded solutions tailored to each client's needs.

RECENT EXPERIENCE

The team’s recent experience includes:

• providing multi-jurisdictional merger control advices in respect of a £248 million take-private deal involving an independent North Sea oil and gas production and infrastructure company
• advising on regulatory (CMA and CCPC) queries arising from transactions in 2019 and 2020, in particular around jurisdictional tests for merger control in the UK and Ireland regarding completed transactions which did not require regulatory review
• advising on antitrust and abuse of dominance investigations and by both the Irish competition regulator, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the CCPC) and the European Commission including advising on cartel immunity applications
• advising on transactional structure, merger notifications to the CCPC and the European Commission, liaising with regulators, submissions on behalf of third parties and competition due diligence
• advising on trade law, Brexit and the potential implications for UK entities seeking to passport to EEA countries and access markets in a wide range of sectors
• advising a top ten insurance company on the implications of the Insurance Distributation Directive and implementing regulations and in particular on the extent and implications of the connected travel exemption in Ireland
• advising a series of telecommunications operators on regulatory issues including: the implications of Brexit and Covid for their activities in Ireland and the UK and the licensing, numbering, lawful interception, consumer protection laws and regulations that apply to the provision of M2M/ connected devices/ IoT services in Ireland
• State aid advices to both public and private sector clients to help them navigate the impact and effect of EU State aid law in Ireland
• advising on other aspects of EU law compliance, including free movement of goods and services, public procurement, acquisitions strategies, commercial arrangements (including exclusivity arrangements and restrictive covenants